. >> this morning, vice president joe biden took on the cause in the kansas city star writing, "some republicans are dead set about asking the wealthiest among us to pay its fair share. maybe they just don't realize what they would mean for the middle class." worth noting, 6 out of kansas's elected members to congress are republican. one of them told the hill yesterday he's worried about the issue of raising tax rates, saying of speaker boehner, i can see him caving. second guessing aside, boehner and the president spoke on the phone yesterday in a discussion a republican source tells nbc news was tense and lasted about 15 minutes. and speaker boehner expressed this morning that serious differences still exist. >> there were some offers that were exchanged back and forth yesterday, and the president and i have a pretty frank conversation about just how far apart we are. >> joining us now, washington post columnist and msnbc political policy analyst, ezra klein. ezra, we keep asking the same questions and each day sort of have the same answer, but i ask you, my friend, is anything hap